A force to be reckoned with

More women now in military command, battlefield posts

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- As the U.S. prepares for a protracted war on terrorism, women stand to contribute more directly than ever before in military operations.

An increased demand for intelligence workers and an easing of restrictions on women in combat roles have already given women unprecedented career opportunities in the military, experts say.

"Historically, all wars have been a breakthrough time" for women, said Lory Manning, a retired Navy captain who heads a research project on the issue for a Washington think tank. "What happens is women do things people didn't think they could do and it clears the way."

Yet this conflict will give women who've risen through the ranks since the Persian Gulf War greater authority in combat, she said.

"Instead of being on navy ships, they'll be commanding officers of navy ships or commanding air squadrons," Miller said. "They're getting more seniority so they're not only in the jobs but supervising people in the jobs."

Still, statistics suggest that women -- typically seen as relief workers supporting war efforts -- have a way to go. Women made up 16 percent of Air Force officers in 1998, 14 percent of Navy officers and 13 percent of high-level Army officials, according to the Defense Department. They comprised almost 5 percent of Marine Corps officers.

Advancing troops

Women aren't heading for domestic factory work made famous by World War II's "Rosie the Riveter" -- they're gravitating to skilled jobs such as fighter jet pilots and medical officers, said Laura Miller, a sociology professor at the University of California-Los Angeles.

"No longer are front line infantry troops and tanks the most important role and no longer are they the most vulnerable."
Laura Miller,UCLA

"Unlike World War II where it was 'free a man to fight -- take a desk job so he can go to war,' women now will be having a direct and vital role in the mission," Miller said.

With military actions expected to be less centralized in pursuit of an elusive enemy, the public is less squeamish about sending women into battle because the risk is spread more equally among all units, not just special forces like the Green Berets and Navy Seals, where women still aren't permitted to fight, Miller said.

"No longer are front line infantry troops and tanks the most important role and no longer are they the most vulnerable," she said. "We don't have a line in the sand that delineates a clear-cut battle anymore."

Boosting their ranks

Women now make up about 15 percent of the armed forces, up from 11 percent a decade ago. Their ranks have ballooned since the draft was dropped in 1972, when they represented less than 2 percent of personnel.

The military is a particularly popular career choice among minorities, who make up about half of enlisted women and a third of enlisted men.

"It's always been an attractive thing for minority women because it's a way to get education and skills training," said Manning, director of the Women in the Military Project for the Women's Research and Education Institute in Washington.

Intelligence and communications are two areas with high concentrations of women, she said. "Even though they may not be deployed someplace, they will be very actively involved in gathering and analyzing intelligence."

What's more, many women confined to combat support roles in wars past are now gearing up for work that wasn't available to them even 10 years ago.

In the Navy, 10,000 women are aboard combat ships who couldn't have been prior to 1994 when Congress repealed a 1948 law prohibiting such deployment, Manning said. The order opened up work on aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and frigates.

The Air Force opened most aviation combat positions to women in 1993. Women are still barred from serving on some special-force helicopters and all submarines, she said.

Lessons from the Gulf

Operation Desert Storm proved that Americans could stomach sending women into combat, Miller said. Almost 41,000 women served in the Gulf War, 13 were killed and two were prisoners of war.

"Even though (women) may not be deployed someplace, they will be very actively involved in gathering and analyzing intelligence."
Lory Manning,Women's Research and Education Institute

"Before the Gulf War, people predicted they couldn't handle women coming home in body bags... that the world just couldn't take our daughters coming home as casualties of war," Miller said.

Meanwhile, a groundswell of patriotism following the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history is tempering long-standing concerns about whether women are physically strong enough to carry out orders and whether they should leave children to serve their country in the first place, she said.

"It will result in a stronger support and less of a controversy about women's role," Miller said. "There's going to be a lot less squabbling and bickering about who should be deployed."

Open questions

While women are finding a more accepting and gender-neutral attitude toward their military service, they still face skepticism about their ability to load heavy artillery and carry rucksacks in the field, Miller said.

"Where the debate lies is with front line ground troops," she said, adding that it's "not clear whether that's going to be part of the war or not."

The other unknown is what kind of bias women meet when they first enlist, Miller said. "We don't know to what degree recruiters are encouraging or discouraging women to take certain jobs."

The good news for military women is that there are no "firsts" anymore, said Marietta Pane, a former Navy captain living in Seattle after 30 years in the military.

The U.S. Army said it will take several months for military recruiters to determine whether more women have been enlisting in recent weeks.

Yet the nature of this conflict and a widely defensible U.S. counterattack is certain to make the armed forces an attractive career choice for even more women.

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